Aphasia Center celebrates 10 years of Chocolate Decadence

Published 4:31 am, Friday, January 23, 2015

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Aphasia Center celebrates 10 years of Chocolate Decadence

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Boxes and plastic tubs stacked with decorations and supplies fill one end of a hallway at the Aphasia Center of West Texas, awaiting their reveal next month at the Horseshoe Pavilion. Kitty Binek, executive director for the nonprofit, meets me in the lobby — chocolate candies in hand. Offering to share some of the treats, she leads me to a conference room at the other end of the hall where we sit down with Kathryn Shelley, marketing and development director and founder of the Aphasia Center, and Cece Brune, author and mastermind behind the center’s main fundraiser — Chocolate Decadence.

The annual benefit, set for Feb. 12 and presented by West Texas National Bank, generates close to half of the center’s operating budget. This year the center is celebrating the 10th anniversary of the original chocolate-inspired charity event.

A good idea

The three women were generous with their time as they recalled stories of volunteers, board members and staff involved with Chocolate Decadence through the years.

Early on, the fundraiser brought in about 19 percent of the nonprofit’s annual operating fund; now it’s responsible for raising nearly 45 percent of the budget.

What has made the event so successful?

“It’s really the legacy of what one volunteer’s idea can do for a community in need,” Shelley said. “I think there’s an incredibly beautiful story there as far as impact and what that idea has allowed our nonprofit to return to the people we serve — to stroke survivors.”

Brune, the founder of Chocolate Decadence, was not part of the staff or on the board of the Aphasia Center when she came up with the idea for the fundraiser. She wasn’t even a volunteer at the center. She was serving as a board member for Community and Senior Services when Shelley and the Aphasia Center’s founding board president, Nancy Anguish, came to the CSS board wanting to rent a building on the property. Brune said the visit “stuck with her.”

“I just kept thinking, ‘Gosh, they don’t have a fundraiser,’” Brune said. “A couple weeks later I came up with the idea. I ran it by my husband first because he’s an accountant — they can pretty much find a reason why it wouldn’t work — and he said, which I love, ‘What man in his right mind wouldn’t take his wife out for chocolate near Valentine’s?’”

She went to Shelley and Anguish with the idea and they asked her to come to the center’s next board meeting.

“When I think back in history to when (Brune) came and said, ‘Well, I’ve got an idea and I know every nonprofit is looking for an idea and here’s one I’d like to share,’ and of course we all fell out of our chairs and were so excited, but then (Brune) agreed to chair it,” Shelley said. “What a gift to be handed.”

Since bestowing that gift and organizing the first Chocolate Decadence, Brune has written two chocolate-centered cookbooks — “Chocolate Crimes” in 2009 and “Chocolate Rehab” in 2010 — with proceeds benefiting the Aphasia Center. And this year, she’s returning to the role of event chair.

A good time

The theme for the 10th annual Chocolate Decadence is “An Evening at Versailles” with a French market, a wine lotto, photo booth and special anniversary cake tasting.

“It’s an especially elegant evening, given the theme,” Shelley said.

In addition to the chocolate treats and the cake, food will be provided by Susan Ball, of San Angelo’s City Cafe & Bakery, who will prepare a French-inspired menu.

Anyone looking for a very special Valentine’s Day gift will have several auction items to consider, including a piece of jewelry from Cathy Eastham.

“She really wanted to choose something special this year and it really does look like something the queen would wear,” Shelley said.

In the spirit of the French-inspired theme, the live auction also will include a trip to Paris with cooking lessons at Le Cordon Bleu.

The set-up encourages those in attendance to mingle, visit, eat and shop, and organizers have intentionally kept it that way.

“The only thing that happens from the stage that we ask for a captive audience for is our live auction and that is about 20 to 30 minutes tops,” said Binek. “It really is just a big party.”

Through the years staff and committee members have considered adding entertainment to the lineup but decided against it.

“One of the comments we consistently have received through the years is ‘I really like this event because I can just visit with my friends,’ so we haven’t gone down certain paths to make it where people can’t hear,” Shelley said. “We haven’t opted to do a a band; we haven’t opted to do certain kinds of activities so that people can really enjoy being with each other.”

The result is an event with broad appeal.

“It can be a friend night, a date night, a work night,” Brune said. “Any group you assemble is going to feel comfortable at that event; they’re not going to feel like they don’t belong here.”

Along with creating an inviting atmosphere, organizers work to set the pace of the event and ensure their plans work in the chosen venue. This year Chocolate Decadence will be at the Horseshoe Pavilion. It’s the first charity event planned at the newly constructed facility.

A good group

It may just be one night, but the event takes months — on some level even years — to plan.

“Part of what we’ve learned is to plan well in advance,” Shelley said.

The Chocolate Decadence planning committee — a group of about 25 — works on the event for at least 10 months, far less time than Brune has spent organizing and crafting the evening.

“We already know who is going to chair 2016; we already know what the theme is going to be for 2016,” Binek said. “There’s preliminary things that happen well before that 10-month period.”

“I think people are interested in seeing, ‘What are they going to do this year?’” Brune said. “It’s always chocolate, but the fact that it’s always getting better is one of the good things about this event.”

Brune likens chairing the event to running a business and came to the first committee meeting with detailed plans, specific jobs and, maybe most importantly, chocolate.

Not surprisingly, there has been little turnover on the planning committee.

“Not only is it a fun idea to begin with and it’s a broad idea that appeals to a broad population — you know, who doesn’t like chocolate? — but then the committee itself is fun,” Shelley said. “Serving on the committee is an attractive, fun group to be part of.”

Throughout the planning process, Brune included fun activities for committee members to enjoy and to get to know one other. And the fun continues the night of the event.

“I would say we even have fun setting up, even tearing down,” Binek said, noting the center’s staff and board members also pitch in.

Volunteers from Summer Mummers sell raffle tickets every year and the same group of women always volunteer to cashier the boutique.

Aphasia Center staff make it a point to be mindful of the volunteers who donate their time to make the event a success.

“This event could not get pulled off without the volunteers,” Binek said. “So often what happens in nonprofits is event fundraisers end up not necessarily being the big benefit they should be because staff time becomes overwhelming, and that’s not the case with us because we have amazing volunteers. It’s a very well-oiled high-functioning group of volunteers that make this event possible.”

A good cause

“One thing about this event that is so different from other events is that the clients from the center attend. When you actually see the clients out there interacting, having a good time, you can tell there’s a pay-off,” Brune said.

Smiling, Shelley pointed out how the clients’ participation in the event perfectly aligns with the purpose of the Aphasia Center.

“Because part of our mission is for people with communication barriers — because of aphasia — to re-engage in life’s activities, that’s exactly a merging of one of those goals,” she said.

The mission of the center is “to improve the quality of life of individuals and families living with aphasia by overcoming communication barriers,” and staff, board members and volunteers work to spread awareness about the condition that does not affect a person’s intellect but can cause difficulty speaking, writing and reading. Aphasia is often the result of a stroke or head injury.

Not wanting to stand on stage and talk about the center, staff and event planners have found other ways to include educational elements in the fundraiser.

“I think another thing that’s been in the formula of our event is how we work in educating about aphasia and our services within the event,” Shelley said. “At every event there’s signage that does subtle things; we’re not up there giving a speech, but in subtle ways it can be found easily.”

In 2012, event chair and former board member Janice Thompson incorporated center services into the live auction.

“I think people give — whether it’s through volunteer time or money — because they truly want to make a difference, and you come away seeing how that contribution is concretely making a difference,” Shelley said.

Whether it’s the volunteers and board members, staff and clients or the sweet treats, Chocolate Decadence has a lot to celebrate in its 10-year history, and much to look forward to.

Chocolate Decadence benefiting Aphasia Center of West Texas is Feb. 12 at Horseshoe Pavilion. At the time of this interview, only a few tickets remained. Go to aphasiawtx.org or call 699-1261.